A NEW LOOK AT THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

By Steve Newton, 3rd VP, National Association of Chiefs of Police

Being an old police chief, I have had the opportunity to meet many politicians and almost invariably they will question me regarding my opinion on the right of citizens to carry concealed weapons. When I state my position that I think it’s a good idea, we usually wind up in a heated discussion about the evils of guns and all the harm they do. I remember a Governor telling me that he could not believe any police chief would be for carrying weapons when so many police officers die every year from being shot.

Well, what do you say to something like that? Most of the time you are not going to change any minds but I do wish they would at least get the facts straight. Number one, no one knows better than I do how many fine people we lose every year. Being the Vice President of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, I see the thousands of names on our memorial wall and I grieve for every one. However, I believe that most officers killed with a firearm are killed by criminals and not law-abiding citizens. I also believe that the argument to outlaw firearms or deny the right to carry because of the danger to police officers is a false one. Lets look at some statistics:

In 1999, nationally, 42 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty. 23 slain officers were municipal, 13 were county, 5 were state and 1 federal officer. Firearms were used in 41 of the 42 deaths. 25 were handguns, 11 were rifles and 5 were shotguns. 5 officers were slain with their own service weapons. 20 officers were murdered in the South, 11 in the West, 6 in the Midwest and 5 in the Northeast.

12 officers were killed during arrest situations, 6 were serving arrest warrants, 4 were trying to prevent robberies or apprehend robbery suspects and 2 were investigating drug situations. Also 8 officers were slain while enforcing traffic
laws, 7 while investigating suspicious persons, 7 while answering disturbance calls, 6 in ambush situations and 2 while handling prisoners.

Now here is food for thought. An additional 65 officers were ACCIDENTALLY KILLED in 1999 while performing their duties. 51 were killed in car, motorcycle or aircraft accidents. 9 officers were accidentally struck by vehicles, 3 were accidentally shot, 1 was killed in a fall and 1 was killed in an all terrain vehicle accident. In other words, in 1999, more law enforcement officers were killed by accident than by firearms. Not only that, but of the 55,026 line of duty assaults on officers, 81.5 percent were committed with personal weapons. (Hands, feet, fist, etc.) Statistics provided by the FBI, released March 15th, 2001.

Preliminary Statistics for 2001 are similar. 140 of the Nation’s law enforcement officers were killed feloniously including 71 in the terrorist attacks on September the 11th.

However, according to the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, there have been 2.5 million protective uses of firearms every year in the United States. For many years, we have been telling the public to help us and to assist where they can. I have also seen a lot of talking heads on the news who try to convince people to, “be alert and remain aware of your surroundings,” when it comes to terrorism, but they can’t seem to really be able to tell people what to do. Well, in my opinion, an armed citizenry already knows what to do. They protect themselves when we cannot.

Now, I am not arguing for vigilantism, but I am arguing that people need to take responsibility for themselves. We seem to be side stepping the issue when we speak about enemies of the United States and we are afraid to let law-abiding citizens protect themselves. The founding fathers of this country provided for the right to bear arms and I can think of no other time in history where it is more important to do so, than right now. As a police officer, I would actually feel safer knowing we had trained civilians who could help me when I needed it.

The only problem is that no one wants to say it. I trust the American people with weapons and I trust that they have the sense to know when or even if, to use them. Again according to the NRA, 32 States have a right to carry law. On the average, crime rates in these states have lowered since the adoption of RTC. Out of all the protective uses of weapons in the U.S., only 1% of the weapon owners actually fired their weapon. With a little training in firearm safety, legal issues and shoot don’t shoot we can have thousands more people on the street that can help us fight terrorism. It seems to me that the only people, who do not trust the people, is the politician. Imagine that.

© Steve Newton 2003
stevenewton69@hotmail.com
 

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